Editorial - "I Will Cause" and "I Will Bring"

by Joseph Hunting

The debate on the land rights of Arab Palestinians seems no nearer to a satisfactory solution after eighteen years since the matter was raised following the Six Day War in 1967.

Whilst not providing a solution, it will be helpful if we trace the momentous events which precipitated the problem.

The Scriptures throw light on the phenomenon of the rebirth of the state of Israel after the Jewish people had been scattered like chaff to the four corners of the earth for nineteen centuries.

A careful reading of the prophetic Scriptures reveals that, in the latter days, the return of Israel to its ancient homeland is in two stages. Firstly, the Lord CAUSES them to return to possess the land. "For lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of My people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord: and I will CAUSE them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it." (Jeremiah 30:3).

Following this initial regathering the prophet then describes a time when the Lord BRINGS them back from the north country and gathers them from the coasts of the earth when they shall come with weeping and supplications. Jeremiah then goes on to describe a redeemed Israel when "they shall not sorrow any more at all ... and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, saith the Lord." (31:1-14).

Whereas the latter prophecy has not yet been fulfilled, the former has.

Let us look briefly at some of the events in this century that have CAUSED the return of Jewish people to their land.

CAUSE 1. World War 1 together with the collapse of the Ottoman empire in Palestine and the Balfour Declaration prepared the land for the people.

CAUSE 2. World War 2 and the unprecedented hatred of the Jewish people by the Nazi regime culminating in the Holocaust prepared the people for the land.

CAUSE 3. The majority decision by the U.N. in October 1947 to partition Palestine and the end of the British Mandate paved the way for the Declaration of Independence on May 14th 1948.

CAUSE 4. Jordan's participation in the Six Day War of 1967 resulted in the reunification of Jerusalem and the West Bank with the rest of Israel.

Historically and Biblically Israel's eastern border followed the course of the Jordan River as it does today. Israel is barely a fifth of the area originally set aside as a Jewish homeland by the League of Nations.

On the other hand there are twenty-one Arab states in the area in and around the Middle East, one of which is a Palestinian state. According to King Hussein of Jordan, "Jordan in itself is Palestine".

And a far greater authority than either the U.N. or King Hussein of Jordan has decreed, "Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock." (Jeremiah 31:10).